“Nice.” Gideon gave her look before he bowed down to meet her mouth in a sweet kiss. “At least this time you aren’t puking up your toes.”
“Don’t say that!” Macy whacked his arm. “It’s still early.”
He dragged her in for a hug and kissed the top of her head. “Did you get an appointment with Dr. Jagger?”
“Yes.” She hugged him back before pushing him away. “Such a killjoy. I’m not looking forward to the poking and prodding.”
“Just want to make sure everything is good.” He stroked a hand down her hair. Shouts from the backyard had him rolling his eyes. “I’ll check on them.”
“Everything cool?”
Macy sighed. “Yeah. We had a super early miscarriage last year.”
“Oh, honey. Why didn’t you tell me?”
She shrugged. “It’s tough when everyone starts with the ‘sorries’ and ‘aww, you can try again’. Doesn’t really help, you know?”
I thought of Harriette and how isolated she’d become.
“Just know you can come to any of us.”
“I know. I tried to keep it under wraps because of all the popping mamas around here. Didn’t want to get anyone more nervous.”
“Yeah, I get that. Shelby’s also pregnant.”
“Jeez, really? Is she happy about it?”
“When she’s not green.”
Macy held up her hand. “Yeah, let’s not talk about that part. I am waiting for that to start any day. Honestly,” she lowered her voice, “kinda hoping I do. The last pregnancy I didn’t, so…”
Impulsively, I hauled her in for a hug.
“Hey!” She put her cup down with a thunk. “What’s this?”
“Nothing. Just wanted to.”
Macy patted me awkwardly. “What’s going on with you?”
“Just a little misty today.” I stepped back and picked up my cider. “I’ve been working on your brother’s house.”
“I heard. How’s that been?”
I shrugged. “Okay. Beginning stages. But we found this secret room during the initial inspection and stuff got a little weird.”
“What kind of weird?”
“Have you heard about the ghost?”
“Not the specifics, but that old place had to have at least one, right?”
“You believe it?”
“Sure, why not? Crescent Cove isn’t your average town, so why wouldn’t we have a ghost too?”
I laughed. “She’s definitely not a… oh, is that a cold spot? kind of ghost. She was tossing books at Nolan like they were in a fight. Not that I blame her. He makes me want to chuck things at his head sometimes too.”
Macy’s eyebrow spiked. “Is that right?” She glanced over my shoulder. “You making friends again, No?”
I turned around and found Nolan just outside the screen door. His shaggy hair was freshly washed, and he wore a Halloween graphic T-shirt over ancient black jeans. He had a case of beer under his arm.
He opened the door and his gaze slid over me. His eyes were hidden behind his usual dark sunglasses, but I could still feel his attention travel along every inch of me. I’d put on a short dress with built-in shorts under it—and pockets, because damn right.
Handily, those pockets hid my fisted hand, thank you very much.
“Is she talking about Harriette again?” He set the case on the kitchen island and gave Mace a half hug as he slung his arm around her shoulders.
“Yes, mostly about her tossing books at your head.” Mace grinned up at him.
He grunted. “Probably just uneven floors.”
“Please,” I muttered.
“Got room in the fridge for a few of those?” He pointed to the beer.
“Bottom shelf.”
“Cool.” He pulled out four and went to the fridge.
